Milk supplied to a dairy plant in Brescia City (Northern Italy) was found to be contaminated by dioxin like PCBs at levels above the European (EU) action limit (2 pg WHO-TEQ/g fat). As a consequence, 14 dairy farms were sampled individually, in order to identify and possibly eliminate the source of contamination. All the farms were located in Brescia or just nearby, an area that is characterized by a strong industrialization. Four out of the 14 farms showed contamination levels above the legal maximum limit set by European Commission at 5.5 pg WHO-TEQ/g fat for the sum of dioxins and DL-PCBs. Concentrations of 8.16, 6.83, 5.71 and 5.65 pg WHO-TEQ/g fat were detected. In the three most polluted farms, cow ration was substituted with feed coming from uncontaminated areas and the time needed to reduce milk pollution was evaluated. In all the three farms, contamination levels dropped below the EU legal limit after only 1 month from the removal of the pollution source. In each sampled farm, DL-PCBs were the major contributors to the total WHO-TEQ level, with percentages up to 87 % in the most contaminated one. PCB 126 WHO-TEQ value explained by itself large part of this contamination, and its decrease was fundamental for the reduction of milk contamination levels. This study provides an example of an on-field successful emergency intervention that succeeded in decontamination of dairy cows, allowing a fast restart of their production activity.

Case-study and risk management of dioxins and PCBs bovine milk contaminations in a high industrialized area in Northern Italy / L. Bertocchi, S. Ghidini, G. Fedrizzi, V. Lorenzi. - In: ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL. - ISSN 0944-1344. - 22:13(2015), pp. 9775-9785. [10.1007/s11356-015-4146-y]

Case-study and risk management of dioxins and PCBs bovine milk contaminations in a high industrialized area in Northern Italy

S. Ghidini
Secondo
;
2015

Abstract

Milk supplied to a dairy plant in Brescia City (Northern Italy) was found to be contaminated by dioxin like PCBs at levels above the European (EU) action limit (2 pg WHO-TEQ/g fat). As a consequence, 14 dairy farms were sampled individually, in order to identify and possibly eliminate the source of contamination. All the farms were located in Brescia or just nearby, an area that is characterized by a strong industrialization. Four out of the 14 farms showed contamination levels above the legal maximum limit set by European Commission at 5.5 pg WHO-TEQ/g fat for the sum of dioxins and DL-PCBs. Concentrations of 8.16, 6.83, 5.71 and 5.65 pg WHO-TEQ/g fat were detected. In the three most polluted farms, cow ration was substituted with feed coming from uncontaminated areas and the time needed to reduce milk pollution was evaluated. In all the three farms, contamination levels dropped below the EU legal limit after only 1 month from the removal of the pollution source. In each sampled farm, DL-PCBs were the major contributors to the total WHO-TEQ level, with percentages up to 87 % in the most contaminated one. PCB 126 WHO-TEQ value explained by itself large part of this contamination, and its decrease was fundamental for the reduction of milk contamination levels. This study provides an example of an on-field successful emergency intervention that succeeded in decontamination of dairy cows, allowing a fast restart of their production activity.
Brescia; Cow; Italy; Milk; PCBs; PCDD/Fs
Settore VET/04 - Ispezione degli Alimenti di Origine Animale
2015
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11356-015-4146-y?wt_mc=email.event.1.SEM.ArticleAuthorAssignedToIssue
Article (author)
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
s11356-015-4146-y.pdf

accesso riservato

Descrizione: Research Article
Tipologia: Publisher's version/PDF
Dimensione 700.68 kB
Formato Adobe PDF
700.68 kB Adobe PDF   Visualizza/Apri   Richiedi una copia
Pubblicazioni consigliate

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2434/1028092
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus 24
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 21
social impact